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NTIA’s Institute for Telecommunications Services, the Nation’s Spectrum and Communications Lab, supports the Department of Defense 5G Initiative through a combination of its subject matter experts in 5G and its research, development, test, and evaluation (RDT&E) laboratory infrastructure in Boulder, Colorado, including the Advanced Communications Test Site at the Table Mountain Radio Quiet Zone. Fifth generation wireless technologies (5G) play a critical role in connecting the nation, promoting economic development, and closing the digital divide.
NTIA also hosts the 5G Challenge, which is intended to help accelerate the adoption of 5G open interfaces, interoperable subsystems, and multi-vendor solutions by fostering a large, vibrant, and growing vendor community dedicated to advancing 5G interoperability towards true plug-and-play operation.
Below you will find links to articles, videos, and other resources that will help you navigate your way through 5G and beyond.
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Biden-Harris Administration Announces $450 Million Funding Opportunity to Promote Wireless Software Innovation
The Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) announced that up to $450 million in funding will be made available for software-focused Open RAN innovation.
This is the third Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) from the Public Wireless Supply Chain Innovation Fund. This NOFO will invest in software solutions to drive adoption of open and interoperable wireless networks. The goal is to fund projects that will unlock new Open RAN-enabled revenue streams and reduce the cost of integrating equipment from multiple vendors.
This third round of funding targets two areas:
- Development of software solutions that use Open RAN innovations to generate value for industry verticals such as utilities, mining, manufacturing and others.
- Development of software solutions that reduce the cost and complexity of multi-vendor integration through automation.
Award applications are due March 17, 2025.
NTIA will hold a NOFO 3 Information Session on January 10, 2025. This event will provide a forum for potential applicants, their partners, and industry members to learn more about the program’s third NOFO and ask the program team questions. Please visit the registration page for more information and to register for the event.
5G Resources and Guidance
5G represents a complete transformation of telecommunication networks, introducing a wealth of benefits that will pave the way for new capabilities, and support connectivity for applications like smart cities, autonomous vehicles, and telemedicine. This brochure succinctly explains how 5G works.
This paper intends to introduce 5G stakeholders to the benefits associated with network slicing and introduce perceived risks and management strategies that may address those risks. For this paper, a network slice is defined as an end-to-end logical network that provides specific network capabilities and characteristics for a user.
The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and National Security Agency (NSA) published this paper, which assesses the benefits and security considerations with implementing Open RAN architecture.
The fifth-generation (5G) of wireless technology represents a complete transformation of telecommunication networks. These developments also introduce significant risks that threaten national security, economic security, and impact other national and global interests.
The Federal Mobility Group’s (FMG) 5G and Mobile Network Infrastructure Working Group (WG) undertook an evaluation of 5G testing approaches to understand available 5G testing capabilities to avoid duplication, promote the use of shared testing resources, and define a framework for federal 5G testing.
This study investigates how 5G may introduce unique challenges to the traditional ATO process defined in security assessment processes and frameworks such as the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s (NIST) Risk Management Framework (RMF).